Termination of Parental Rights (TPR)

Termination of Parental Rights means that a person’s rights as a parent are taken away. Termination means “to end” something. The person is not legally the child’s parent anymore.  

Courts take away parental rights to protect children that are in very bad situations with their custodial parent. It is rare that a parent can start a process to take away the parental rights of another parent. (See last section of this fact sheet.) 

Voluntary: 

Voluntary termination means you agree to terminate your rights as a parent. You might decide to do this because it is the best thing for your child and there is a good reason to do it. Like if your child has been in foster care for a long time, or because your ex-partner is married to someone who wants to adopt the child. Or maybe a friend or family member has agreed to take over raising the child.  

Note: A court does not let you give up your rights as a parent just because you don’t want to pay child support.  

Involuntary: 

Involuntary termination means you don’t agree with giving up your rights as a parent, but the court decides they should be terminated anyway.  

If a court takes away your parental rights, you don’t only lose your rights to the children you have now. If you have more children later, the court could say you won’t be a good parent to them either. Social services could petition to terminate your rights as soon as the baby is born.  

If there is someone who wants to adopt your children and you agree, you can terminate your rights so the adoption can happen. You and the adoptive parents can talk about and decide if you or another relative can visit or talk to the children.  

If your child is in foster care, the foster care agency has to approve the contact agreement. You file this agreement with the court.  

Being in jail or in prison is not a good enough reason to terminate your rights. BUT it can be looked at along with other things to show you are not a part of your children’s lives. It is important to have as much contact as you can with your children to protect you from losing your rights. Save copies of letters and keep records of calls and visits with your children.  

Note: If you have been convicted of certain serious crimes, you may have to prove that it is in your children’s best interest to visit you.  

This is a serious matter. You have a right to a lawyer, and it is a really good idea to get a lawyer. You can get a free, court-appointed lawyer if you can’t afford to pay for one. Apply for a court appointed lawyer at www.lawhelpmn.org/self-help-library/legal-resource/apply-court-appointed-lawyer-chips-case. 

Or you can fill out a form called “Affidavit for Court-Appointed Attorney.” You can get the form at your local court or online at www.mncourts.gov under “Get Forms” then “Child Protection.” 

It is up to the court to decide if they think you really can’t afford a lawyer so make sure you show good proof. 

Or you can hire a private lawyer.  

If your children are members of an American Indian tribe or eligible for tribal membership, the rules about termination are different because of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).  

The ICWA says that a court can’t terminate your parental rights unless a tribal representative or a tribal liaison is at your hearing. Or that they have filed a Qualified Witness Expert Affidavit and agrees to the termination. In order to terminate your parental rights, the judge must be convinced “beyond a reasonable doubt” that letting your children stay with you is “likely to result in serious emotional or physical damage.” 

This means that the judge can’t take away your parental rights unless they are completely sure that letting you keep them will hurt your children. See our fact sheet, Your Rights Under the Indian Child Welfare Act. 

For more information contact the ICWA Law Center at 1-866-879-0123 or visit their website at http://www.icwlc.org. 

Usually, the county must offer services to help you take care of the issues that led to placement in foster care. The Judge, or the social worker, may refer to this as “making reasonable efforts.” For a child covered by the Indian Child Welfare Act, it’s called “making active efforts.”   

If your child is in foster care, there has to be a court review hearing within 6 months to look over your progress on your case plan.  

BUT, if you have been working on your case plan and visiting your child, the court can give you extra time. They can give you an extra 6 months to complete your case plan before the hearing. After that hearing, the court may order the county to file a permanency petition. 

Once your child has been in foster care for 12 months, the county files a petition. This petition asks the court to decide where your child will live if they can’t return home. Those “permanency” options are usually: 

In some cases, the county does not have to make reasonable efforts to return the child to your care. Like if your rights to children were involuntarily terminated before or if you seriously injured your child. They can file the permanency petition right away.  

Different rules apply when a child has been placed by the parent for care or treatment.  

Yes, but it has to be for one of the legal reasons listed above in “What are the legal reasons for termination?”  

Probably not. Courts generally think children should have 2 parents and don’t want to terminate the rights of one parent unless there is a very good reason. This is true even if both parents agree to the termination.  

It’s important to remember that terminating parental rights also stops all child support obligations. Mostly, the only reason to terminate the rights of the other parent is if your current spouse wants to adopt the children. If the other parent agrees to the stepparent adoption, you can file a petition with the local Juvenile Court asking the court to terminate the other parent’s rights and let your spouse adopt your children. Your children’s other parent needs to give their permission in writing. 

But it is almost impossible to do if:  

If you think your children are not safe with the other parent, go to Family Court and ask for an order changing or limiting the other parent’s time with the children. You can also ask for supervised visits. For more information on parenting time orders see fact sheet Parenting Time and Parenting Plans. 

You can appeal the court’s decision. An appeal is when you ask to have the judge’s order reviewed by a higher court. Appeals need to be made within 20 days of the date the order was made.  

More information about how to file an appeal can be found on the Court of Appeals website at http://www.mncourts.gov/CourtOfAppeals.aspx. Click on “Court of Appeals Help Topics” tab. 

In some cases, with older children, the county can ask the court to re-establish parental rights. See our fact sheet Can I Ever Go Home Again if my Parents’ Rights were Taken Away?